SALT LAKE CITY — A missing Ogden teenager has been found safe, along with her two younger cousins, after disappearing in Mexico last month.
The FBI said 14-year-old Elizabeth Gonzalez, and her cousins, 6-year-old Sofia Mailen Moreno and 4-year-old Regina Moreno Zamora, were found at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday in Veracruz.
A federal arrest warrant has been issued for Gonzalez's uncle, Antonio Moreno, who is also the biological father of the two younger girls.
Friday afternoon, Moreno, 31, was named a suspect in the case. The process to extradite Moreno back to the United States to face charges, including kidnapping, is underway.
Officials said Moreno has lived in Kaysville for the last three years.
Gonzalez is a resident of Ogden and was visiting her maternal grandmother in Mexico City when she disappeared on June 30 alongside her two cousins, who reside in Mexico.
"On June 30, 2024, Moreno abruptly traveled to Mexico City, Mexico and allegedly took the three girls without their mothers’ permission," the FBI stated in a release. "Relatives have not seen or heard from them since. We believe the girls are in danger and still in Mexico."
The FBI previously disclosed that they believed Gonzalez and her two cousins were "manipulated by an adult" to get into a taxi, which was captured on surveillance footage.
Now, officials say they believe Moreno was the adult who manipulated the girls to get into the car and they believe the group of four is traveling together.
